Anyone who is even remotely informed about sports supplementation knows that creatine is practically the most recommended supplement since it has a long list of benefits that have been proven in hundreds, if not thousands of studies. Some of these well-known benefits are:

- Increased strength
- Increased muscle mass
- Reduction in perceived effort during training
- Increased resistance in short and intense efforts
- Improved cognitive status during training
- Helps maintain muscle mass over time

By the way, I take this opportunity to comment on some common myths regarding this supplement. Before continuing, you should know that creatine:

- Does not damage the kidneys or liver
- Doesn't make you go bald
- It does not provoke water retention in the skin, only at the cellular level, which will not negatively affect your appearance, quite the contrary.

Both the known effects and these myths can be easily researched with a quick Google search. The point is that today we are here to see other much less known effects that have been discovered in relatively recent studies, which continue to add to the list of benefits of this compound.

A small aside, since we are talking about creatine and supplementation I just want to reming you that you can buy it at Prozis.com with my code YERAI with which you will get a 10% discount, direct gifts per order amount and points that can be accumulated and redeemable for more gifts, in addition to supporting me as a content creator.

Let's go with the list of lesser known effects:

Creatine helps prevent depression

A 2020 study saw a direct relationship between the amount of creatine in the diet and the risk of depression. Nowadays, mental health has become a very important and worrying issue, since it seems that with the effect of social networks and modern society, anxiety and depression problems are getting worse. Creatine has already been shown to have some positive effects on mental health and cognitive status and this study corroborates its benefits in that regard.

Creatine is a cognitive enhancer

In a study with people who had sleep problems, creatine supplementation was shown to improve their cognitive status during the day. Nowadays, the most common resource used by people who have sleep problems or do not sleep enough hours is caffeine, in this way they try to get through the day being a little more awake and alert. With the results of this study we see that creatine could be a very good ally in that sense. Although it never hurts to remember that getting enough sleep is extremely important and should not be something that we sacrifice when it suits us.

Creatine helps prevent neurodegenerative diseases

Another effect at the level of mental health, a 2014 review analyzed the effect of creatine on diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Huntington's disease and others, finding benefits in terms of prevention and the initial stages of those conditions.

Creatine is an antioxidant

A 2021 study analyzed the role of creatine with respect to oxidative stress and concluded that it has a positive effect, both through direct and indirect acting mechanisms.

Creatine Improves triglyceride and glucose levels

Currently there is a great tendency to worry about blood glucose levels and to try to improve it by increasing insulin sensitivity, fasting, or low-carbohydrate diets. We will not discuss this topic today, since it goes a long way, but we will comment that a 2022 study has shown that creatine supplementation improves both triglyceride levels and blood glucose levels. So it could be an effective and less radical tool than the other interventions we have discussed.

How is creatine made?

Before finishing, a small aside since I am often asked if creatine is vegan and how it is produced. Well, creatine is synthesized in the laboratory through sodium sarcosinate and cyanamide, so no animal products are involved in its manufacture.